TRUCKING COUNTRY POLITICS AND SOCIETY IN TWENTIETH-CENTURY AMERICA Series Editors William Chafe, Gary Gerstle, Linda Gordon, and Julian Zelizer A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book TRUCKING COUNTRY the road to america s ’ wal-mart economy Shane Hamilton Princeton University Press Princeton and Oxford Copyright © 2008by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX201TW All Rights Reserved Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hamilton, Shane, 1976– Trucking country : the road to America's Wal-Mart economy / Shane Hamilton. p. cm. — (Politics and society in twentieth-century America) Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral)—Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN978-0-691-13582-3 1. Truck drivers—United States—History. 2. United States—Rural conditions. 3. United States—Economic conditions—20th century. I. Title. HD8039.M7952U529 2008 303.48'32—dc22 2008009874 British Library Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Adobe Garamond Printed on acid-free paper. press.princeton.edu Printed in the United States of America 1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2 For Chloe This page intentionally left blank CONTENTS List of Illustrations and Tables ix Acknowledgments xi introduction 1 chapter one Food and Power in the New Deal, 1933–42 13 chapter two Chaos, Control, and Country Trucking, 1933–42 43 chapter three Food Fights in War and Peace, 1942–52 69 chapter four Trucking Culture and Politics in the Agribusiness Era, 1953–61 99 chapter five Beef Trusts and Asphalt Cowboys 135 chapter six The Milkman and the Milk Hauler 163 chapter seven Agrarian Trucking Culture and Deregulatory Capitalism, 1960–80 187 conclusion 233 Appendix A 239 Appendix B 243 Notes 251 Index 293 This page intentionally left blank ILLUSTRATIONS AND TABLES Figures 1.1 Wisconsin and Illinois Milksheds, 1932 27 2.1 Owner-Operator Truckers Relative to Total Labor Force, 1930–80 49 2.2 Milk Hauler Unloading Cans at Receiving Station 60 4.1 Transportation Portion of the Food Dollar, 1945–55 116 5.1 Meatpacker Locations and Beef Cattle on Farms in 1959 138 5.2 The Feedlot Belt and Feed Grain Production in 1965 141 5.3 Rural Meatpacking in the 1970s 154 6.1 Borden Milk Company Deliverymen 168 6.2 Bulk Milk Truck 172 7.1 The Bandit 222 Tables 2.1 Farm Backgrounds of Truck Drivers, 1940 48 3.1 Income Comparisons of Agricultural and Industrial Truck Drivers by Employment Status, 1950 93 7.1 Women in the Labor Force and in Trucking, 1960–80 196 7.2 Truck Driver Income by Race, 1960–80 203 7.3 Truck Ownership by Race, 1960–80 205 7.4 Number, Revenues, Employees, and Compensation of Regulated and Nonregulated Motor Carriers, 1963,1967, 1972, and 1977 211 B.1 Truck Drivers in the Labor Force, 1930–80 243 B.2 Income, Ownership, and Metropolitan Status of Truckers by Race, 1930–80 245 B.3 Income and Metropolitan Status of Self-Employed Truckers and Truckers Working for Wages, 1930–80 246 B.4 Employees of Unregulated Long-Haul Trucking Firms Relative to Total Labor Force, by State Rank, 1972 247 B.5 Estimated Tonnage Carried by Regulated and Nonregulated Intercity Motor Carriers, 1950–79 248 B.6 Revenues, Employees, Wages, and Ton-Mileage of Railroads and Motor Carriers, 1940–79 249 ix